Guest Post: Holly Doherty

Baby Girl Galloway’s arrival is imminent. To make my life a bit easier, I’ve reach out to some of the best voices in my sphere of influence and asked them to share their wisdom with you. Each guest author was chosen because I KNOW you’ll learn something from them.

Holly also has a great gift for you, “The Confidence Key: The Essential Tool to Unlock Your Worth” that I want you to download here >>> Get “The Confidence Key”

Let Your Writing Dreams Come True

Dreams.

When you were a little girl, no doubt you had many of them.

Maybe you wanted to be an astronaut AND a doctor.

A baker AND a pilot.

A singer AND a veterinarian.

You didn’t worry about what was “possible.”

You didn’t care about the odds.

Your heart wanted what it wanted.

But somewhere along the way, you started to think about “reality.”

People told you it wasn’t possible – or at least not likely.

Maybe your family encouraged you to get a back-up plan.

You lost hope that your dreams would ever become a reality.

Maybe you gave up on them altogether, convinced that you weren’t good enough or that they just weren’t worth the effort.

Sound familiar?

Just Keep Writing.

Ever since I can remember, I wanted to be an author.

From the day I learned how to construct a paragraph, I’ve written stories.

Yet, as I grew up, I knew I had to get a “real job.” I decided I’d make a living as a journalist until I “made it” as an author. In a bizarre twist of fate (long story), I ended up with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences instead of journalism, and a master’s in physical therapy. My love for words took a back seat to scientific inquiry.

And yet, I never stopped writing.

Some of my stories were published in school newspapers and journals. Teachers in high school and college submitted some of my research papers to national contests. I even had a research paper published in a national trade journal on sports medicine when I was in my master’s program.

But I still had the burning desire to write a BOOK.

So I kept writing.

Then, eight years ago, that dream became a reality when I published my very first book on Amazon.

I still remember the excitement when I hit the Submit button. The downright giddiness when I read the email from Amazon informing me that my book was live. The jump-up-and-down elation when people actually BOUGHT the book.

I’d fulfilled my lifelong dream – the thing I wanted longer than anything else in my life.

The Catalyst that Changed Everything

Despite the fear of hitting that Submit button (What if no one reads it? What if they don’t like it?), I took action on my dream and never looked back.

I replaced the grown-up, cynical fears with the hope of possibility contained in my childhood dreams. (What if it becomes a best-seller? What if it this is just the beginning of a long and meaningful writing career?) After all, now that I’d done it ONCE, I could do it again.

Facebook reminded me of the memory recently. In that post, I wrote that the book was the “first of many, I hope.”

Sure enough, THAT dream became a reality as well. I’ve now published nine books, and written a chapter in a best-selling compilation book. My latest book, an affirmations coloring book for adults, was published during the COVID crisis. Later this year, Kim Eldredge and I will publish my memoir.

Never did I imagine that I’d publish ten books in eight years. I never held that specific intention. I simply wrote.

Some of my books have hit best-seller status. Some have bombed. And I’m okay with that.

I just keep writing.

Publishing a Book Changes You.

In the beginning, I didn’t have a message. I experimented and followed Kindle publishing trends to make a buck. (Not my recommended course of action, by the way. But it was still progress. I published those books under a pen name, thankfully.)

But along the way, I found my message and my purpose. They are now crystal clear. My message, my business, and my most current books are all perfectly aligned with my purpose. All because I kept writing. (It’s much easier when you START with your message, but don’t let an unclear message stop you. Get help with your message, and keep writing.)

Publishing that very first book changed the way I saw myself. It changed my identity. I am now, and always will be, a published author. I am a person of INTEGRITY for taking the actions to pursue my dreams and to keep the commitments I make to myself.

I am ALSO a person who is WORTHY of having my dreams come true.

And so are you.

If you doubt that – if you stare at the blank page or erase the words over and over, thinking that you’re not good enough to do it – I invite you to download your free copy of “The Confidence Key: The Essential Tool to Unlock Your Worth.”

You can do it.

Think back to the very first time you dreamed of writing a book – of holding it in your hands and seeing your name on the cover. Have “reality” and fear gotten in the way of your dream?

Don’t let it.

Hold fast to your dream. To the possibility.

And take the steps to make that dream a reality.

Only you can do it.

Only you can put the words on the page.

So just keep writing.

Because you’re worth it.

Holly Doherty is a best-selling author, speaker, and Sculptor of Self-WorthTM. She works with female entrepreneurs who are tired of chasing success for their self-worth. She helps them build their confidence from the inside out, to know their worth, and to be themselves so they can grow their business with authenticity and purpose. Because success without self-love is just a prettier emotional prison. But when you know your worth, you can change the world.

She is the founder of Rediscover Radiance, LLC, and creator of the Self-W.O.R.T.H. Personal Identity RoadmapTM.

She lives in the Phoenix Valley, where she loves her husband, homeschools her children, and tries (unsuccessfully) to train her cats. She loves penguins, Latin music, and ballroom dancing. Obsessed with all things purple, she strives to move toward a more minimalist lifestyle while maintaining an epic collection of sparkly jewelry and cute shoes. Find out more at www.RediscoverRadiance.com.

Kim Galloway
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